The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) is a cluster of independent scales, each reliable measures of an attribute. Early in this research program the CCTDI TOTAL score ( now the CCTDI OVERALL score) was used by some researchers as their preferred variable, and for that reason we have not withdrawn it from reported scores.

We recommend that the OVERALL score not be used as it can potentially hide significant weaknesses. It is possible to have a respectable OVERALL score and yet have a significantly poor score in one or more areas

Our position is that the CCTDI individual scales are what should be analyzed as seven individual constructs, each of which are important to the thinking mindset of a strong critical thinker. All seven have been endorsed cross-culturally as important to a critical thinking mindset. If one of the seven is lacking, a relatively high calculated OVERALL score can hide a significant thinking mindset flaw. Some individuals will be seen to have strengths in some areas but weaknesses in other areas and the OVERALL profile has implications for how amenable an individual is for training high order thinking skills.It is possible to have a respectable OVERALL score and yet have a significantly poor score in one or more areas..